New England School of Law OUTLaws

News and information of interest for the New England School of Law OUTLaws, and other members and supporters of the GLBT law school community at large.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

California: Veto

California's elected Senate and Assembly passed legislation this week establishing marriage equality in the state of California. I mentioned in an earlier post that Gov. Schwarzenegger seemed to be changing his mind from his earlier statements that same sex marriage would be "fine" with him if established by court ruling or legislative action. Of course, that was when legislative attempts hadn't been successful, and a state high court ruling was perhaps years away (perhaps even past the time of the next election).

Now that an actual law has been presented to him, it's a different story. The governor announced last night that he will be vetoing the bill, and stated that the legislature's actions are in conflict with ballot initiative Prop 22, which bars California from recognizing out of state same sex marriages. Speaking once more through his press secretary:

"We cannot have a system where the people vote and the Legislature derails that vote," Thompson, said. "Out of respect for the will of the people, the governor will veto (the bill)."

Earlier this week the potential justification given was that the question is before the courts, "where it belongs." Which is it? Should this question be resolved by ballot initiative, by the courts, or by the elected legislature? It seems that the answer for antimarriage activists is that the answer should be found by whatever body doesn't favor equality.

NESL Outlaws is a weblog written and managed by students at New England School of Law in Boston. The views expressed here reflect the views of the authors alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views or official positions of New England School of Law or its affiliates.

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